A New Day Awakening Church - Central Blog

Romans 8:15; For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Which Spirit did you receive when you accepted Christ? Was it the Holy Spirit? Okay then, if that is the case, then why are you still living in fear? Fear is bondage, but it can also be anything that you can imagine it to be. We have a tendancy to label fear as an emotion when it is actually an emotional response to perceived threats and impending danger. Fear is also a state of mind or a state of being, or a condition resulting from our individual perception of reality. Fear derives from a complex mix of chemical reactions which begin to interact in the Amygdala region of the brain where the mental images which form the basis of our perception have preeminance over what we actually see, hear, believe, or accept to be the truth. Fear then in it's most primal basic form is simply a distortion or perversion of the truth. Fear is also associated with the specific behaviors involved with the escape and avoidance of fear.

2 Timothy 1:7; For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Fear is not an attribute of the Spirit of God, but is what remains when there is a lack of knowledge of God's omnipotence, and a twisted understanding of His perfect love, which results in an unsound and unstable mind. This instability is a by-product of doubt, which can manifest as fear from shyness and timidity at one end of the spectrum to paranoia and terror at the other end of the spectrum. This is clearly the work of Satan although many that are gripped by and paralyzed by fear will claim to be the Children of God. This is a dangerous assumption.

1 John 4:18; There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

For the person that lives in fear the love of God is not working in them. It is the Spirit of God that perfects us, but the previous verse clearly says that a person that fears is not being made perfect in love. This means that the fear must be working through something other than love. So then, if not love, then what is it? God is love. Anything other than God must be either the devil, the flesh, or the world, or worse yet, sin.

2 Corinthians 10:4; (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Fear can be overcome, but you are not going to overcome fear in the flesh. Fear works through the flesh so trying to overcome it by the same means will not work. You can go to a psychiatrist and he will put you on medication or have you admitted to a psych ward but the initial problem is not going to go away. You can smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol and use drugs to try to keep from feeling the pain but  all you are doing is adding more problems on top of the problems you already have. You have to understand that this is more a spiritual matter which must be attacked with spiritual weapons. Fear will make you a spiritual cripple

Revelation 21:8; But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Where did fear start? It started in the Garden of Eden. It started with a question that the serpent asked Eve; Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? this caused Eve to doubt and question God's motives which made her unstable. In the midst of this instability the lie was able to take hold and do it's twisted work. Once this led to sin and Eve and Adam both ate from the fruit their first reaction was to run and hide. Fear was a reaction to sin. So where is fear going to end? It's going to end in the lake of fire. that is the last place you will want to have to deal with fear.

If you are still living in fear you really have to take a good look at yourself and examine what is at the root of the fear. If you still have trouble forgiving what someone might have done to you, part of that comes from fear. If you don't like being around other people and prefer to be alone, that is stemming from fear. If you hide behind different personalities and are riding an emotional roller-coaster day by day this is the result of fear. If you have a tendancy to criticize and victimize others this is also a reaction to fear. I can go on and on all night but I hope you are catching my drift. I'm not here to condemn you or to make you feel bad. I want you to be set free, but first you are going to have to get past all the half-baked excuses and really make up your mind to repent and seek God with all of your heart. There are consequences to sin.

Levitticus 26:40-42; If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

Isaiah 59:2; But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

When our hearts are not right with God is creates a rift, a separation from God. When you walk contrary or against God he walks contrary to us. Even if we do confess our sins and work to get our hearts right we still have to bear the consequences of our sins. Yes God forgives us. He is merciful, but he is also just. God is not mocked, we will reap what we have sown. In due time he will lift his heavy hand from off you and you will walk with him in a newness of fellowship and favor that you haven't felt in a long time. He will not forget the promises he made to you. He loves you but he will chasten you if you are his child. You have to learn to trust him. You are going to have to trust him enough to get past you own flesh, and put away the things that can contaminate you. Fear will take you to hell! Break free from the grip of fear and walk in the truth. The truth will set you free.

James 4:8; Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Don't keep moving away from God. Go towards him and he will move towards you. Clean up your act, and admit that you've been wrong. Don't allow pride and fear to keep you a prisoner of your own mind. You are not hurting anyone but yourself. Make up your mind about which direction you want to head in. Don't procrastinate. God is there for you just waiting, but he won't keep waiting if you don't respond.

Isaiah 55:6; Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

There is nothing that you could have ever done that is so bad that God won't forgive you. If you don't believe God can forgive you then you might as well stick a fork in yourself because you are so done. That's the fear talking to you.

Isaiah 1:18-20; Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

How many of you remember the story of the Little Red Hen? Its a great children's story but it also has practical biblical applications that we are going to examine. This is prophetic in nature so please read this with an open mind. You see, in the story, the Red Hen had a vision, a clear vision of loaves of bread. Remember, Jesus is the bread of life, and with a few loaves and some small fishes he fed 5,000. The bread represents the word of God. The same way we have to feed our physical bodies we also have to feed our spiritual bodies. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The problem is that in order to bake bread from scratch, there are several time-consuming processes that have to be considered. Bread is made from dough that comes from wheat. Wheat comes from a seed that has to be planted. So each process takes time while the Red Hen has to "scratch" out a living for herself and for her chicks, all the while pressing towards the mark.

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

She was able to obtain the seeds she needed to sow, but the fallow ground had to be broken up. In the parable of the sower a sower went forth to spread seeds, and the seeds fell on several types of soil. The Red Hen needed help in order to do this and she went to the other farm animals, yet they were too occupied with other things, and simply refused. Do you know how hard it is to get people to sow into the ministry God has given you? It's like trying to pull teeth. Let alone go ask people to help you do some ministry work to help your ministry grow. Forget about it. The Red Hen toiled and struggled against the hard ground, and the chicks helped by removing the stones. When Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus he said "roll away the stone". The stones represent obstacles and challenges that we must overcome on our way to achieving our goals. Once the fallow ground was broken up the Red Hen needed help to sow the seeds, but again she was met with the same rejection as before. Everybody is always too busy doing nothing. Jesus once asked some people to follow him and they all had a bunch of lame excuses. My favorite is the man that said he bought a few yoke of oxen and needed to try them. Does that make any sense? Does that mean that he paid for something without knowing what he was getting? Would you buy a car without checking it out and going for a test-drive? Yeah right!

So she gave her chicks some seeds and they all spread the seeds on good soil. The hen and her chicks could have filled their bellies with the seeds but they chose rather to scratch for whatever she could get to feed herself and her chicks. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to do God's will. Sometimes people always have something to criticize about. They wonder why you struggle so much when you could easily just do this or do that but then all they do is talk. Talk is cheap. They won't even help you with anything but they always have something to say.

2 Thessalonians 3:11; For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

Once the golden stalks of wheat were grown the summer had passed and it was now approaching Autumn. In Ecclesiastes it says that to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:2; A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Some things take more time than others. We might just have to wait for things. So the time came when the wheat had to be reaped and threshed, but she was met with the same rejection and opposition as always. The Red Hen was exhausted after all the hard work but we reap what we sow. That can go both ways. If you are diligent and work hard you are going to get exactly what you put into something . If you are lazy then you can't expect anything. Since she had sown in good soil the seeds produced some 30, some 60, and some 100 fold, so there was an increase. Paul said on one occasion, one plants and another waters but God gives the increase. Brethren if you are putting a lot of effort into something good it is going to produce. Rest assured that you may not see an increase now but that bumper crop is sure to sprout! There will be an increse and a good reward for your labor.

Jesus had told Peter on one occasion, "Satan desires to sift you like wheat", but look at what it produced in Peter. Sometimes we need to be sifted so the hard exterior can be shaken off and blown into the wind. Some of us need some sifting right now. That's why we feel like we are being shaken up! Don't fight the feeling! What remains is the white wheat kernel that was underneath but there are 2 types of insects called weevils that eat wheat. One eats the wheat from the inside leaving the outside intact. Like many believers nowadays that appear to look okay from the outside but inside they are all messed up. The other insect eats the outside of the wheat and like a believer appears to be very spiritual but outwardly there is no evidence of what appears to be on the inside. Worse yet is the believer that is messed up on the inside and the outside. Tore up from the floor up. That's another message for another time.

So now the kernels of wheat had to be ground into fine flour. The Red Hen got tired of asking for help. That was just a waste of time, since she was always met with the same response. So she beat and ground the wheat kernels into fine flour, and once that was done she was ready to make the dough. You know that bread and dough are slang terms for money. You know how people won't even have anything to do with you if you don't have money. Once you do have some money everybody wants a piece of the action. The relatives and the fake friends start crawling out of the woodwork like cockroaches. As soon as the money is gone they crawl right back where they came from.

The Red Hen made the dough and got the yeast and baked some beautiful bread.

The aroma from the oven filled the air and the other animals followed the scent all the way to her house. When they got to the Red Hen's house they all wanted some of that hot fresh-baked bread. She looked at them and shook her head and said no. Some people have some nerve. They won't even answer their phones when you call them asking for help, but once you are finished they say something like oh you should have called me, with a big colgate smile on their faces. Try getting people to come to a prayer meeting. You might have weel have said that you had the plague.  If you are working hard for the Lord you take the increase from your labor and share it with the people that have been faithfully helping you. That's not being mean, that's being fair. The Red Hen had some words for those lazy so and so's. Because none of you helped me in the least, I'm going to have my bread with my chicks with some hot butter and have a feast! Next I'm going to make some cornbread but don't bother coming to help in the morn, Mother Goose offered to come help me plant the corn! Brethren, don't fret over all the hard work you are doing for the Lord. Remember you are working for Jesus and he has a benefit package that no earthly boss can match. His name is Jehovah-Jireh, and he has not failed you yet. The retirement plan is out of this world! You keep planting those seeds. Keep working that good work. One day you are going to see the fruit of your labor. Don't worry about who is not helping you. They already have their reward. If God is giving you a ministry stop trying to help people build theirs. In the end they will turn on you when you decide to start your own work. You may not be a Red Hen, but you're a child of God. He is the only one you really need to please. Make his dream your dream and his ambition your ambition and just do what you know how to do. God is going to see you through. Learn from the Red Hen. Be diligent and you will prosper! God bless you!

Reader Advisory: Reading this blog may be hazardous to your flesh!

Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible for changes in your life that lead to repentance.

2 Kings 6:33; And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?

Have you ever felt like God is against you? You know what I mean. You are praying regularly, you read the bible at least once daily, you go to church as often as you can, and you are living right, but something just doesn't add up. You aren't seeing the prosperity you should be seeing, the bill collectors are beating a path to your door and the collection agencies keep calling day and night even on weekends. There are situations outside of your control and you can't seem to do anything about them. So you try to figure it out. Maybe you need to pray more, or be more in the word. Maybe there is some unconfessed sin. There must be something because something is just not right. Then it wouldn't be so bad if it was only for a short time but this has been going on like this for ages. You start to wonder if things are going to stay this way forever. Then you wonder how much longer can you hold out. If things keep going the way they are going you might have no other choice but to give up on God. Things were better before you served him. UH OH!

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's just back up a bit and see what's going on in this story. The man in the story is Elisha the prophet. According to the biblical record he had a double portion of the Spirit that was in Elijah so that Elisha performed many miracles. Before this particular incident the King of Israel would travel but the King of Syria was setting traps for him to kill him. Elisha would warn him not to go a certain way and the King would avoid the ambush. After this happened several times the King of Syria rounded up his leaders to find out who was the spy under the threat of death. One of his "prophets" told him that there was no spy but that Elisha the son of Shaphat told the King of Israel what the King of Syria spoke in secret.

2 Kings 6:11, 12; Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.

So the King of Syria sent an army to go capture Elisha in Dothan. When Elisha's servant went out he saw they were surrounded and started to panic, but Elisha said, Lord open his eyes that he might see.

When he looked again he saw horses and chariots of fire all around behind the enemy, and when they went down to capture Elisha he said strike these men with blindness.

2 Kings 6:18, 19; And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.

Then he led them all into Samaria (Israel/Northern Kingdom). When the King of Israel saw the enemy in Israel he wanted to slay them all but Elisha told him to set food and water before them and to send them home to their master.

Later the King of Syria laid siege to Samaria so that there was a famine in the city.

2Ki 6:26, 27; And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?

If God is not able to help you then what can anyone else do? We can pray and pray but we're not going to bend God's arm or force him to do something for us. Everything happens for a reason. We don't know what's on God's mind. we just have to trust that he knows what he is doing.

2 Kings 6:28-31; And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

Things had gotten so bad people were eating their own children. So all the trouble that Elisha was in was because the King of Israel had sent messengers to cut Elisha's head off. It appeared that all the trouble in the city was Elisha's fault. Don't look for blame when situations go wrong. God knows what he is doing. Just ride out the storm. Sometimes we blame ourselves, which can become guilt. Sometimes we look for blame in others, which can cause us to make false accusations and bitter judgments. We have to be careful because we will eventually reap what we have sown.

The King could have wiped out the Syrian army while they were in Samaria but Elisha let them go free. This was the Godly thing to do but we have an enemy that isn't too happy when we do the Godly thing. So Elisha was at the point of giving up on God because although he did the right thing, it appeared that God was against him.

2 Peter 3:9; The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Immediately God spoke through Elijah and said that the next day about the same time God was going to do a miracle that would drive away the Syrians and bring prosperity. God is an on-time God. There are many verses in the bible that testify of God's faithfulness when there was nothing else to fall back on. In spite of this there was one man that doubted.

2 Kings 7:1, 2; Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

God did deliver Samaria but the man who was the right hand man of the king was asked to watch the gate and was trampled by the people as they rushed out of the city to ransack the camp of the Syrians that they had abandoned, and he died. God is no respecter of persons. Everything in life goes according to God's timetable and not ours. Remember Jesus said he that was the beginning and the end. Everything starts somewhere but it will also end. Don't you dare give up! God will perform his will in his own time. He is a very present help in the time of trouble. You make it seem as if you are the only person in the world going through stuff. You aren't! There are multitudes of people worse off than you are. Much worse off. You need to stop going from one extreme to the other. Your attitude does not reflect the faithfulness of God but is one of despair and hopelessness which is from the flesh and cannot please God. You are either going to accept what the word of God says or you are going to live according to your feelings and your flesh and live a defeated and destroyed life. That is the bottom line. You are who you say you are. If you are a child of God then you need to start acting like one. You need to speak like a child of the King and look like the prince or princess that you are. You attitude needs to reflect the faith that grew from a mustard seed into a mustard tree. The bible is full of verses that tell us that we are going to go through things. There are also a ton of verses that tell us that God will deliver us!

God's hand has not been shortened that it cannot save. If you know of things in your life that you need to straighten out then straighten them out. You do what you know you should do and let God be God. I'll tell you what. Why don't you sing a few bars of a song by Dottie Peebles. Some of you might know the words. the name of the song is, He's an on time God!

Come on now sing it with me:

And-a 1, and-a 2, and-a 3

He's an on time God Yes He is

He's an on time God Yes He is

He may not come when you want him

But he'll be there right on time

Romans1:21-25 Because that when they know God they glorified Him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own heart to dishonor their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affliction for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burning in their lust one toward another men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was met. and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debauchery, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, invetors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, convenant breakers without natural affliction, implacable unmerciful, who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit and not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them are worthy of death.

God has a way for reconcilation and that is for us to repent meaning to name our sins to Him in prayer in the Name of His Son, Jesus Christ and then be baptized in the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost in order to receive His gift that He is giving His people in these endtimes. We all have been baptized in water now receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The naming of your sin to God Almighty is for forgiveness and the baptism is the washing away of sin then He heals you and sends you the Comforter that teaches you of all things pertaining to Him.

Romans13:1-2 Let every soul be subject unto the higher power for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God whosoever therefore resist the power, resist the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

Proverbs15:31-32 The ear that hears the reproof of life abides among the wise. He that refusees instruction despise His own soul but He that hears reproof gets understanding.

John4:23 But the hour comes and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeks such to worship Him.